1. NOAA Satellite Conference 2015 April 30, 2015
Frequency Matters
NOAA Satellite Conference 2015
April 30, 2015
Mark F. Mulholland
Office of System Architecture and Advanced Planning
NOAA Satellite and Information Service

2. Realities of Spectrum Sharing
Here to stay – Initial auctions successful beyond expectations
Consumer’s demand for broadband will continue to be insatiable
Demand for broadband will grow in other economic sectors
Commercial broadband companies are much more flexible and adaptable than government agencies
Satellite systems are among the least adaptable communications systems
Expectation that government systems will accommodate broadband sector needs

3. Follow The Money NOAA Satellite Budget Request, Fiscal Year 2016
(FY 2016 NOAA Budget Summary:
$2.379 billion
NASA Earth Science Budget Request, Fiscal Year 2016
(FY 2016 President’s Budget Request Summary:
$1.947 billion
USGS (Landsat) Budget Request, Fiscal Year 2016
(The United States Department of the Interior Budget Justifications and Performance Information, Fiscal Year 2016:
$0.078 billion
Approximate U.S. Government civil space budget FY 2016
$4.4 billion
Net “AWS-3” Spectrum Auction Proceeds
(FCC Public Notice DA , dated January 30, 2015:
$41.3 billion

4. Why Us???
You Are Here
Source: The Great Radio Spectrum Famine, IEEE Inside Technology, October 2010,

5. Lessons-Learned
Some analytical techniques, rules and regulations are outdated
Non-federal and Federal user community engaged, but not well-organized
Regulators and policy-makers understood economic value of GVAR, EMWIN and geostationary imagery; but,…
Did not understand criticality of uninterrupted polar data for numerical weather prediction models
Employed policy of non-Federal users not being protected
Desired to protect operational forecasting infrastructure

6. How Well Do We Talk? * * * * * * + + + + + + + * EUMETSAT Member
Country
CGMS
SFCG
CEOS
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Barbados
Brazil
Bahamas
Belize
Canada
China
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rico
Curacao
El Salvador
Ecuador
France
Guatemala
Honduras
India
Italy
Country
CGMS
SFCG
CEOS
Japan
Kenya
Rep. of Korea
Mexico
Nigeria
Norway
Panama
Peru
Pakistan
Paraguay
Sierra Leone
Spain
Sweden
Trinidad& Tobago
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
EUMETSAT/ESA
NOAA/NASA
WMO * + * + + * + * + * +
* EUMETSAT Member
+ ESA Member * +

7. Observations Participation in technical working groups is inconsistent
Meteorological satellite groups: CGMS and CEOS
Spectrum: Space Frequency Coordination Group
Other satellite spectrum working groups are agency-specific
ESA-NASA-JAXA-NOAA Frequency Coordination Meeting
DoD-NASA-DOC Frequency Precoordination Working Group
No satellite spectrum working group exists for Western Hemisphere meteorological and scientific satellite operators
Do we need a working group?
Do you want a working group?

8. Suggested User Engagement
Recognize that more weather satellite bands will be auctioned and that it will be harder for us to do our jobs
Begin visible and intense advocacy effort
Emphasize full scope of emergency management systems that absolutely rely upon EMWIN, GVAR, GRB
Consider public outreach at “retail” level
Organize frequent, and vocal participation in all rule-making public comment periods
Polar satellite spectrum sharing: ~300 comments
Net Neutrality: 3.7 million comments
Support American Meteorological Society advocacy initiatives

9. Future Interference Reporting
NESDIS action to deploy easy way to report interference
For unprotected users in band (HRPT) or in adjacent GOES band
GOES rebroadcasts
DCS and SARSAT in low frequency bands near cubesat bands
NESDIS will provide timely feedback
Coordination with Federal Communications Commission
Useful outside the U.S. – nobody else should be in your band
Will provide details for final conference minutes

10. Today’s Panel
Mr. Beau Backus: Report of Recent Intergovernmental Frequency Working Groups
Mr. Alfredo “Fred” Mistichelli: Current Spectrum Sharing Status
Mr. Dave Lubar: Future GOES-R Concerns
Dr. Esteban Valles: Future EMWIN Implications
Ms Laura Delgado Lopez: Survey of Latin American Users